It is well known to homeowners that the gutters of their home must be periodically cleaned in order to prevent them from becoming clogged with leaves and other debris which has collected therein. Failure to properly clean gutters inevitably results in improper waterflow to the ground during rainfall and the ultimate deterioration of the gutters and eaves.
In the past, it has been common for homeowners to clean the gutters by climbing a ladder and removing the debris by hand. This requires either that the individual perform the dangerous task of crawling around the perimeter of the house to clean the entire gutter system or, perhaps even worse, continually returning to the ground and shifting the ladder laterally about 3 to 4 feet and then again climbing the ladder to remove the debris from the gutter. The first technique is potentially dangerous to the homeowner and the second technique, while not quite as dangerous, is even more laborious.
In an effort to render gutter cleaning a less undesirable homeowner's chore, various devices have heretofore been proposed for reaching into an overhead gutter while standing on the ground and removing leaves and other debris from the gutter. For example, the patent to Earp, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,276, discloses a gutter cleaner comprising a telescopic handle and including a pair of arms with tines at the end thereof which are adapted to move lengthwise along the gutter and towards each other when a control rope is pulled to urge the arms together. Also of interest, the patent to Griffith, U.S. Pat. No. 2,720,409, shows an eave gutter cleaning device comprising an extensible handle having a pair of pivotably mounted tong elements at the end thereof which may be opened and closed about gutter debris by means of a pull cord which extends from the tongs to a trigger at the lower end of the handle. This device, as well as the Earp, Jr. gutter cleaner, provides for movement of the pivotably mounted tongs into open and closed positions along a pathway which extends generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the gutter. This movement possesses inherent deficiencies since the tongs are periodically obstructed by the gutter supports and the cleaning action of the tongs over downspouts at gutter ends is restricted. Moreover, although a "trigger" is used to actuate the cord extending to the tongs, the Griffith device does not really provide a convenient and practical actuation means for the tongs any more than does the Earp, Jr. gutter cleaner which requires that the handle be held in one hand while the cord is pulled with the other in order to open and close the debris-collecting arms thereof.